This is the syndication feed for photonics.com: Photonics Spectra. https://www.photonics.com/Photonics_Spectra/p5 Mon, 09 Oct 2023 21:44:03 GMT Tue, 26 Sep 2023 11:15:40 GMT 1800
We’ve all heard the phrase “make like a tree and leave,” right? Well, researchers from Imperial College London’s Clean Energy Processes program are taking this saying to the next level by looking toward nature in a bid to increase efficiency in solar energy production. Their solution: a handmade photovoltaic (PV) leaf to precisely imitate the real deal.

Most commercial PV panels convert solar into electrical energy with only 25% efficiency or less, according to the researchers, who also said that >70% of solar energy that is incident on a cell is dissipated as heat. This heat leads to the deterioration of not only the panel’s performance but also its overall service lifetime. This led the researchers...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Trees_sprout_a_new_branch_of_photovoltaics/a69357 A69357 Tue, 26 Sep 2023 11:15:40 GMT
Amid the climate-change-driven stories about drought in California and floods in the Nevada desert, the New York Times recently reported that decades of agriculture and residential development have drained groundwater from U.S. aquifers faster than it could be naturally restored.

Water has even become a growing undercurrent in the media buzz surrounding AI language generators, such as ChatGPT. Research led by the University of California at Riverside and published in the journal arXiv aimed to quantify AI’s growing water footprint. In their abstract, the researchers claimed that merely training GPT-3 in Microsoft’s state-of-the-art data centers can directly consume 700,000 L or ~185,000 gal of clean fresh water. The paper...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Photonics_flows_into_freshwater_monitoring/a69356 A69356 Tue, 26 Sep 2023 11:04:00 GMT
In 2000, Berthold Leibinger, the man who brought laser technology into Germany’s TRUMPF Group, established the Innovation Award — expressed in native German as the “Innovationspreis” — to honor outstanding R&D in the field of laser technology. Next to this prestigious award, the Berthold Leibinger Zukunftspreis was added in 2006 to recognize scientists driving fundamental laser research to new heights.

Leibinger sadly passed away a few weeks after the Innovationspreis ceremony in 2018, but he had handed the company over to his children years before, along with the Berthold Leibinger Foundation and its associated awards.

At the 2023 ceremony, held on September 22 in Ditzingen, the Foundation...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Berthold_Leibinger_Awards_Honor_Laser_Research_at/a69354 A69354 Tue, 26 Sep 2023 09:45:00 GMT
Leading practitioners across the spectrum of innovation in biophotonics technology will spotlight the field’s rapidly advancing landscape in the BioPhotonics Conference taking place October 24-26. The online showcase features sessions from technology developers and instrument manufacturers spanning the industry, academia, and research communities.

Luminary figures, as well as startup companies and established players, are among those that comprise this year’s program. Sessions will focus on trends in microscopy, imaging, and spectroscopy in specific program tracks. Selected topics include live-cell and deep learning-enabled imaging, digital chemical histopathology, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and biometrology and...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/BioPhotonics_Conference_Highlights_Effective/a69340 A69340 Wed, 20 Sep 2023 11:13:38 GMT
China’s recently issued export controls on two rare-earth metals, gallium (Ga) and germanium (Ge), have intensified the scrutiny of the global supply chain for these materials. The Chinese directives mandate that its domestic exporters must now obtain a license to distribute the metals across international borders.

Both materials are needed to make alloys and compounds, which are vital to the production of semiconductor chips, optics, laser diodes, and other components.


China unveiled export controls this summer on its ample supply of germanium (Ge), prompting a discussion in the optics industry about the potential that chalcogenide glass materials offer as a substitute for Ge optics. Manufacturers have taken action by...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Export_Controls_Re-Sharpen_the_Optics_Industrys/a69322 A69322 Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:36:32 GMT
Many trends in the manufacture of photonic systems are well known: miniaturize and integrate components, scale-up batch sizes, and, increasingly, expand automated and sustainable manufacturing. At the same time, quality control remains a priority but faces ever more challenges, such as zero-defect production or full traceability. Maintaining these goals calls for a “detect/predict/prevent/repair” approach based on comprehensive sensor networks that monitor every step in the production chain as well as complex software to make use of the data that these networks produce. Artificial intelligence is critical to success.


Laser deflection allows the monitoring of mirror alignment during production. Courtesy of...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/How_AI_Is_Advancing_the_Manufacture_of_Photonic/a69321 A69321 Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:34:57 GMT
In 2018, when California became the first state to pass legislation requiring the measuring of microplastics in drinking water supplies, it essentially set off a competition that would pit photonic technologies against one another as well as nonphotonic counterparts. To determine which technologies could most precisely, consistently, and cost- effectively measure microplastics, California’s State Water Resources Control Board, or State Water Board, recruited 22 laboratories to evaluate several analytical methods.


A comparison of remote water monitoring with multispectral and hyperspectral imaging. Courtesy of Pixxel.
In July 2022, the board released the interlaboratory comparison results. A month later, it essentially...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Spectroscopy_Rides_a_Rising_Tide_of/a69320 A69320 Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:32:52 GMT
It is strange that the study of materials has been intertwined with the study of our universe. Somewhat paradoxically, improving our grasp of atoms has enabled us to answer questions about the cosmos. Although humanity has always looked to the stars in awe, our understanding of them has been constrained by our knowledge of geometry, algebra, physics, and materials. Throughout history, the discovery of new materials enabled the most advanced astronomical instruments of the era. These advanced instruments informed and enhanced the predictive capability of our physical, geometric, and algebraic models.

Figure 1 provides an overview of how the evolution of materials technology paced our ability to create increasingly stable astronomical...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/How_Materials_Advancements_Advance_Our_View_of/a69319 A69319 Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:31:26 GMT
The term “smart dresser” typically describes someone with a strong sense of style or who is fashion-forward. Researchers from the Federal University of Espírito Santo in Brazil took a more literal interpretation of the term when they developed pants laced with fiber optic sensors that were able to remotely monitor a wearer’s physical activity. The aim of the so-called smart pants is to help health care providers non-intrusively monitor the physical activities — or lack thereof — of aging patients or those in rehabilitation.

Fiber optic sensors are compact and flexible, not to mention that they are immune to both electro- and magnetic interference and have been shown to integrate into different...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Smart_pants_can_tell_when_youre_kicking_it/a69275 A69275 Thu, 24 Aug 2023 13:27:36 GMT
The International Laser Marketplace Seminar, traditionally held as part of the LASER World of Photonics event in Munich, has provided a reliable source for market and trend information in the field of industrial laser systems. Global markets for industrial lasers have changed considerably since analyst Arnold Mayer of Optech Consulting introduced the seminar 32 years ago.

“When we started the Laser Marketplace in 1992, the laser as an industrial tool was new and just started to replace established methods on the shop floor,” he told Photonics Media.


Courtesy of iStock.com/Dreamland Media.
In the early 1990s, for example, Japan was the largest end market for laser systems.

“Japan was catching up...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Laser_Market_Update/a69274 A69274 Thu, 24 Aug 2023 13:24:12 GMT
Though the drift away from globalization has unfolded slowly during the past several years, it would be hard by now for anyone to miss the gap growing between the U.S. and China. Fueled by intellectual property disputes, trade wars, an apparent spy balloon, and increasingly stringent controls over exports and investments, the long-fraught commercial competition between the two countries looks increasingly confrontational.

Much of the discord has revolved around commercial interests, though the latest salvo has targeted what the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) described in an August 16 article as one of “the most productive scientific collaborations of the 21st century.” Specifically, as of press time, several U.S. lawmakers were...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Ending_scientific_collaboration_will_not_end_risks/a69273 A69273 Thu, 24 Aug 2023 13:20:12 GMT
Evident Corp. appointed William Wesley “Wes” Pringle CEO and Hiroyuki Yoshimoto president and COO as the life science and industrial microscopes manufacturer reworks its leadership group. Olympus, which held Evident as a subsidiary and operated it as its Scientific Solutions business, announced plans to divest Evident to Bain Capital in August 2022 in a deal worth over $3 billion. The deal was finalized in April this year.

Pringle joins Evident from Danaher, where he ran several companies including test and measurement technology developer Fluke Corp. for almost 10 years. More recently, Pringle served as head of portfolio operations at the private equity firm Onex Corp., where he helped over a dozen portfolio companies...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Evident_Corp_Appoints_Leadership_Team/a69248 A69248 Wed, 16 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
The IA includes definitions for the placement of laser sources at the front panel — the coolest section of a co-packaged optical system — enhancing system reliability and allowing for efficient “hot-swap” field replacement when necessary. The front panel pluggable form factor introduced by the IA is tailored for other multiple laser external laser source applications in addition to co-packaged optical systems.

The...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Implementation_Agreement_Builds_on_OIFs/a69235 A69235 Fri, 11 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
During the initial phase of the project, according to NUBURU, the company will focus on establishing the scientific, technical, and commercial merit and feasibility of its technology. The company plans to then create a commercially viable product to tackle bottlenecks associated with existing high costs as...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/NUBURU_Contracts_with_NASA_to_Trial_Blue/a69229 A69229 Wed, 09 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Colorado State University (CSU) and Marvel Fusion have partnered to build a $150 million laser facility to enable research into inertial fusion energy and high energy density physics. The public-private partnership will see the facility constructed on the CSU Foothills Campus pending finalization of financial details by the CSU system board of governors.

Targeted for completion in 2026, the project is planned to feature at least three laser systems, each with a multi-petawatt peak power and an ultrafast repetition rate of 10 flashes per second. The flagship facility will be designed to accommodate expansion and additional lasers in the future. The selected site for the new laser facility is near CSU’s existing Advanced Beam...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/CSU_and_Marvel_Fusion_to_Build_150M_Facility/a69224 A69224 Tue, 08 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Heat-Assisted Detection and Ranging (HADAR), a patent-pending thermal imaging technology from Purdue University, combines infrared (IR) imaging, machine learning, and thermal physics to visualize target objects in the dark as if it were broad daylight. According to its developers, the technology could have an impact on par with lidar, sonar, and radar, by enabling fully passive, physics-aware machine perception.

Traditional sensors that emit signals, such as lidar, radar, and sonar, can encounter signal interference and risks to eye safety when they are scaled up. “Each of these agents will collect information about its surrounding scene through advanced sensors to make decisions without human intervention,” professor...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/IR_Imager_Merges_AI_Thermal_Physics_to_See_in/a69225 A69225 Tue, 08 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have reportedly advanced last December’s laser fusion breakthrough result. For the second time, scientists obtained more energy from a fusion reaction than the process consumed — achieving a so-called net energy gain.

Results were reported Sunday in the Financial Times. Media outlets including The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Bloomberg also shared the news.

Initial reports indicate that the reaction occurred July 30 and returned more energy than the December reaction.

Fusion — both laser-based (inertial confinement fusion) and magnetic confinement fusion — is widely viewed as a vital source of...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/NIF_Scientists_Claim_Repeat_Fusion_Breakthrough/a69223 A69223 Mon, 07 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) are developing a strategy to boost the light absorption of thin silicon films. The team demonstrated silicon-based photodetectors with light-trapping micro- and nano-surface structures, achieving performance gains that rival that of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and other group III-V semiconductors.

Traditionally, silicon has been the most prevalent semiconductor in the electronics industry. Unfortunately, silicon has a relatively weak light absorption coefficient in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum compared to those of other semiconductors like GaAs. Accordingly, GaAs and related alloys thrive in photonic applications, but are incompatible with the traditional CMOS processes...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Thin-film_Silicon_Photodetector_Rivals_III-V/a69220 A69220 Mon, 07 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Ultraviolet laser optics tend to have limited lifetimes, due primarily to two processes: laser-induced contamination (LIC) and UV fatigue. LIC is caused by the deposition of unwanted material on the surface of the optic, whereas UV fatigue results from the breakdown of the optic due to cumulative exposure to UV light. Both degrade the performance of optics over time until the effects become intolerable.

Long-term experiments on UV optics at 355 nm in various environments have revealed key insights into sources of contamination and fatigue, as well as mitigation strategies and cleaning techniques that can potentially recover contaminated optics.

What is laser-induced contamination?

Contamination of optics can occur when UV...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/How_to_Preserve_Your_Laser_Optics_Against_UV/a69221 A69221 Fri, 04 Aug 2023 14:44:02 GMT
Chalcogenide glasses — more commonly known as chalcogenides — have been around for some time and offer several benefits over other IR optical materials. They are comparatively lightweight, offer excellent thermal properties, and can be precisely engineered for easy integration with other IR materials. But they have traditionally posed problems for small manufacturers who sought to document consistent production processes for these glasses. In the last ten years, this situation has drastically changed as larger companies have entered the IR glass market and geopolitical circumstances have affected the germanium supply. Today, it’s possible to obtain solid production data, such as refractive index and transmission at...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Chalcogenide_Glass_Sharpens_the_Outlook_for/a69219 A69219 Fri, 04 Aug 2023 11:38:06 GMT